Annual Reading Tea in Moosup nurtures love of reading

A steady stream of parents, grandparents and family members crowded into the Blue Moose Café in Moosup throughout the day Friday, affirming that this community values reading.

ANNA MARIA LEMOINE

A steady stream of parents, grandparents and family members crowded into the Blue Moose Café in Moosup throughout the day Friday, affirming that this community values reading.

The cafeteria at Moosup Elementary School doubled as a place for tea and a good book during the school’s annual Reading Tea — an event set aside as an opportunity for students to share reading time with family and friends.

“Anytime you get a chance to come to school and see your kids get to show off their skills, it’s great,” Demian Sorrentino, who attended the tea for his daughter, Isabella Sorrentino, said. “It reinforces what they’re learning.”

Promoting literacy to families and the community through its students is a key initiative at Moosup Elementary.

“I like to read because I learn things,” Isabella Sorrentino, a second-grader, said. “I read with (my parents) all the time.”

The more than 300 students who attend the school received a free, new book of their choice for the tea — one of three times during the year students are given a free book. Books are paid for by the school’s PTO and the First Book National organization.

Isabella read her choice, “Tigers at Twilight,” to her father while her peer, Jeremy Rider, chose a book about planets to read to his mom.

“I like planets,” the 6-year-old said.

On Friday, more than 200 guests attended one of four teas.

“It’s so important the school supports literacy the way it does,” Cathy Rider, Jeremy’s mother, said. “It encourages a love of reading. Every student here is assigned reading every single school night. But it’s not a chore to them — it’s something they enjoy.”

It’s also something they like to share.

“It is amazing the way this community and the parents value reading,” said first-grade teacher Melissa Curran, who helped organize the tea with the Moosup Elementary Literacy Team.

“It’s obvious the students are spending quality time reading together at home. It just cultivates that love for reading even more.”